.

Here, gathered in our beloved South Dakota, are a few members of our Williamson / Mattson Clan. Charles and Luella are to be blamed (be kind, they didn't know what they were doing). We're generally a happy bunch and somewhat intelligent (notwithstanding our tenuous grasp on reality). I'm also proud to say that most of us still have our teeth.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Our Cousins, Twice Kidnapped By Indians (Williamson Line)

From the Fortress of SolitudePleasant Grove

Hello Williamsons,In today's digital gathering I'd like to share a story about Jonathan Haines and his son Thomas. Jonathan was our 1st cousin eleven times removed. He was the son of our 11th Great Aunt, Mary and her husband William. Their relationship is outline on the Family Tree (click on the tree at the top of the right side bar) and below:

Relationship Chart

What a story! It would make for an interesting book and movie. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.

Simply,Victor

Summary:Jonathan Haines, our first cousin eleven times removed, was taken prisoner by the Indians along with is son Thomas only to be killed in an attack several years later. Below is an account of Jonathan and his family (I corrected the original spelling errors but left the grammar and punctuation just as found in the original document).

Jonathan Haynes the eldest son of William and Sarah [Ingersoll] Haynes was born in 1646, in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts - He and his sister Sarah were baptised 2 years later on 11 June 1648.

As a young man Jonathan moved to Hampton, New Hampshire, where he first married Mary MOULTON in 1674. His new marriage was not to last. Mary died in July only a few months after their marriage. The is some confusion as the the exact date.

It was on 30 December of that same year that Jonathan married secondly Mary's sister Sarah.

Jonathan Haynes moved his family to Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts for about 10 years and then to Haverhill also in Essex county, Massachusetts, where the birth of their five youngest children are recorded. They settled in the West Parish near Hawk's Meadow Brook.

Coffin's "History of Newbury", says that at the close of the summer of 1665, by invitation of Bobernor Carteret of New Jersey, several persons went from Newbury and settled in a township which was called Woodbridge. Of these emigrants, some stayed, others returned. among those who returned was Jonathan Haynes, Elish and John Ilsey.

Haverhill, inland on the Merrimac River, was still a frontier town, though founded in 1640, and suffered severely from the Indians. On 16 August 1696, during King William's War, Jonathan and his children were working out in a field nearby Bradley Mills, the children were picking beans, and the father reaping nearby.

The Indians attacked, taking Jonathan and his children captive. They traveled immediately with their captives for Pennacook, Concord, New Hampshire. When they arrived they divided their prisoners and separated. The father Jonathan and his eldest son Thomas age 16, were taken to an Indian Village in Maine from which they were able to escape.

After two to three days traveling in the wilderness, with barley anything to eat, Jonathan collapsed from exhaustion. Unable to get his father to move, Thomas started onward for help. Upon coming to the top of a hill, Thomas climbed a tall tree to see if he could discover any signs of civilization. There were no towns in sight. While pondering on this sad disappointment andtrying to decide what he would do next, his quick ear caught the sound of a sawmill - he listened--- there was no mistaking that familiar sound. He excitedly ran towards it and soon found himself at the settlement of Saco, Maine.

His story was soon told to the settlers and with help and a bottle of milk, he hastened back to his father, who was right were he left him. Jonathan had given up hope and had lay down to die, never expecting to see his son again. The milk, and the good news revived him and with muchdifficulty he finally reach Saco. Here, both father and son remained until their strength returned and they started for home in Haverhill, where they arrived without difficulty.

In the mean time, the Indian party which took the other children, Mary 19, Jonathan Jr 12, and Joseph age 7 years, went into Canada where they sold them to the French. The tradition is that Mary was carried to Canada on a hand-sled, and it is presumed the Indians tarried at Pennacook until winter. She was redeemed the following winter, with 100 pounds of tobacco, andafterward married John Preston of Andover, and moved to Connecticut.

Johnathan Jr and Joseph never returned, A deed of 1731 speaks of them as still in Canada. In one of the companies on the Canada expedition of 1757, were three bothers names HAYNES, from Haverhill. While in Canada they had leave granted to make a search for the captive brothers and found them. They had lost the knowledge of the English language and spoke only French.They could could only talk to their brothers through an interpreter.

One of them asked about his sister, Mary who had one of her fingers accidental cut off by a young lad, and the son of a neighbor, a short time before her capture. He recollected the circumstance, and asked if she was still living. Nether of them could be persuaded to return.

In the year 1698 the Indians commenced their attacks on the settlers. On the 22nd of Feb, a party fell upon Andover, killing five of the inhabitants and captured as many more. On their return, the same party killed Jonathan HAYNES and Samuel LADD, in Haverhill and captureda son of each. so it was that Thomas HAYNES was kidnapped for the second time by the Indians.

Jonathan HAYNES and Samuel LADD who lived in the western part of town, had started that morning with their teams, consisting of a yoke of oxen and a horse each, accompanied by their eldest sons, Thomas and Daniel, to bring home some of their hay which had been cut and stacked the preceding summer. They were slowly returning from their meadow in the extreme western part of town, when they suddenly found themselves surrounded by Indians, who hadbeen hiding in the bushes along the path.

There were 7 Indians on each side with guns pointed and cocked. The fathers seeing it was impossible to escape, begged for 'quarter' to this, the Indians replied, 'boon quarter' [good quarter]. Young LADD , who did not relish the idea of being quietly taken prisoner, told his father that hewould mount the horse and try to escape, but his father forbid him, telling him it was a better risk being taken prisoner. He cut his father's horse loose, however, and giving him the lash, the horse started off at full speed. Though he was repeatedly fired at by the Indians, he succeeded in reaching the settlement and gave the general alarm.

Two of the Indians stepped behind the fathers and dealt them a heavy blow to the head. Jonathan HAYNES, was quite aged and fell instantly, but Samuel LADD did not. Another of the savages stepped before the latter and raised his hatchet as if to strike. Samuel LADD closed his eyes, expecting the blow would fall but it did not and when he opened his eyes, the Indian waslaughing and mocking him. At the same time another from behind gave him the fatal blow.

This was on the 22nd of September 1698. Administration of her husband's estate was granted to Sarah "HAINES" HAYNES widow of Jonathan HAINES of Haverhill on 5 Dec 1698 at Salem Court. She with three other residents of Haverhill signed a petition dated 17 Apr 1701, addressed to the Lt. Governor and Council, begging that the act which has passed forredeeming of captives be put to execution as speedily as possible.

Thomas HAYNES remained a prisoner with the Indians for several years and was redeemed by his relatives. It is said that when he was about to leave his master, in token of his good will and esteem, presented him with his best cane. This cane, 3 1/2 feet long, top being round and rest 8 sided, it is now in the collection of the New England Historic and genealogical Society in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. Each side in ornamented with figures, some diamond shaped, other square or diagonal, all neatly cut with a pen knife. There is an iron figure and a pur at the end.

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Warning! Please Read On.

Tracing one's genealogy can be a tricky endeavor. Once you move past three or four generations, the information you discover on the internet may or may not be accurate. What you read on this blog represents the best I've found using Ancestry.com, The LDS Church's Family Search, and Google. Corrections are gladly welcome. Please send your information to AnAmericanDynasty@gmail.com

I'm interested in information on two family lines in particular.

I'm searching for our Vercellino family from Northern Italy and our Mattson /Tornberg family in Sweden. Again, you can reach me at AnAmericanDynasty@gmail.com